AS a tribute to the country’s greatest playwright, a Southport couple opened their new acquisition on the weekend of his birthday.

AS a tribute to the country’s greatest playwright, a Southport couple opened their new acquisition on the weekend of his birthday.

And owners Vicky and Jez Ward named their pub after him as well.

The Shakespeare pub on Scarisbrick New Road is now open for business.

Co-owner Vicky told the Midweek Visiter: “We had our official opening party on Saturday, April 21 as not only was it St George’s Day on April 23, but William Shakespeare was born and also died on April 23. I know we had the party on April 21, but who wants to party on a Monday?

“The opening night was absolutely fantastic. It was so good that we ran out of vodka. There was even a queue for the toilet, we were that busy.

“The pub used to be called the Shakespeare and then someone else took it over and changed its name. I have done lots of research, but cannot find out why it was called Shakespeare in the first place.

“People are saying that they are happy that it’s called the Shakespeare again. People in their 30s and 40s, who used to come here in their teens, came back in on the opening night.”

Vicky added: “In ten weeks we have drastically cleaned, scrubbed, semi-refurbished and breathed some much-needed life into the place.”

Already the pub has got four darts teams – one is called Shake, Rattle and Roll, another is called the Speare Shake – and three pool teams, and a football team is expected soon.

Vicky said: “We have a function room, vaults, pool, darts, snooker and poker. We are hoping to turn it into a community pub.

“It’s all coming together. It’s going better than we expected. We had a business plan and we didn’t think it would be this good until Christmas.”